Juvenile convertible car seats are designed for use with growing children. These car seats are designed to convert the car seat from a rear facing and reclined position for infants (from birth up to 20, 22 or even 30 lbs.) to an upright and forward facing position for toddlers (up to 40 or even 65 lbs. or more). Convertible car seats are secured on an automobile seat with the automobile seat belt(s) threaded through specific forward or rear facing belt paths, relative to a forward or rear facing installation. Construction of a convertible car seat typically comprises of a molded plastic seat shell that is essentially a bucket seat shell with a seat and back support surface, forward extending side supports, a molded-in frame, and other details for the attachment of pads, belt systems, and other components. The belt system, or internal harness, restrains the child occupant and is generally a 5-point system with a crotch strap, two lap belts, and two shoulder belts. The belt system also includes some sort of adjuster to loosen or tighten the belts, and it is typically located at or under the front of the seat for easy access. A sewn fabric seat pad provides comfort.
The child population is increasing in weight and size relative to age and safety advocate groups are urging parents to keep children in child restraints (especially those with an internal harness) as long as possible. Therefore, convertible car seats are typically large and are getting larger to contain older and heavier children.
When used rear facing for an infant, the convertible car seat must be reclined to properly support the developing child. This creates a challenge, especially for a large convertible seat. Juvenile car seats are typically used in the back seat of an automobile and the seat back of the reclined and rear facing juvenile car seat often interferes with the seat back of the front automobile seat. This incompatibility prevents the juvenile car seat from properly reclining or even prevents its use entirely.
Harness system adjustment, specifically that of the two shoulder belts, has always been an area of misunderstanding and misuse by the consumer. Typically, juvenile car seat backs have multiple sets of slots at different heights to correspond to a growing child's shoulders. To adjust the shoulder belts from one slot to another, the consumer has to un-secure the harness and unthread the shoulder belts from the current slots and rethread them through the desired slots and then re-secure. Crotch straps on some car seats have multiple use positions also and some must be unthreaded, moved and rethreaded similar to shoulder belts. This disassembly and reassembly introduces risks to the use of the car seat as the correct and crucial reassembly relies entirely on the consumer, who may not be mechanically inclined.
Some juvenile convertible car seats have a means to slide the shoulder belts up or down to a new height without disassembly and rethreading. This is accomplished with a sliding carriage behind and/or in front of the seat back that the shoulder belts pass over or through. The shoulder belts pass through the seat back of the molded shell via a single pair of large, vertically elongated slots that correspond to the range of motion of the adjustable carriage. The carriage position is adjusted by a mechanism that is located behind the seat back and often hidden from the user and is thus non-obvious and/or difficult to use. Even fewer convertible car seats have the ability to adjust the crotch strap without disassembly, and current adjustment means are, again, non-obvious and difficult.
LATCH stands for Lower Anchorages and Tethers for Children and is an industry standard of child restraint attachment. It typically includes a length of belt with a clip at each end and an adjuster in between to adjust the length of the belt. The belt can be threaded through either the rear facing or forward facing belt paths of the convertible car seat and the clips attach to metal loops on either side of the seating area behind the seat cushion of the auto seat. The metal loops are attached to the frame of the car. With the clips attached to the loops, the LATCH belt can be adjusted tightly and the car seat is secured. The use of LATCH is optional but car seats are required to be so equipped as an alternate method of attachment to the standard auto seat belts.
Side impact performance is a growing concern with juvenile car seats, and while high sides on a seat, along with the internal harness do contain the child occupant, the juvenile car seat itself can still slide side-to-side even when properly installed. This movement is caused by the juvenile car seat sliding laterally relative to the auto belts or LATCH belt. A solution is integral belt clamps that reside within or adjacent to the rear and/or forward facing belt paths of the juvenile car seat. These clamps hold the auto or LATCH belts tight to the juvenile car seat and prevent or minimize side-to-side sliding relative to these belts.
Most convertible car seats have a recline feature that manages the seat recline position for comfort and/or proper positioning in forward or rear facing installations. Rear facing installation always requires more recline to properly support a developing infant.
It has become common for nearly all children's car seats to include at least one cup or drink holder. These take many forms and are either removable or retractable by some means.
The purpose of this invention is to solve these problems with current car seats in a practical, reliable, convenient, and cost effective manner. It will make transportation of a growing child safer and more convenient.